Anime Hearts: Kingdom Hearts meets Anime!
by CrazyChibiSama
Summary: Battle of Black and White! A game of Tag in the Timeless River. Chapter 4 released! Omake included! My Co-writer's okay again!
1. Prologue:New Companions

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the series listed in this fanfic. I wish I did.... boo... =3=

author's note: I read the English versions of all the series listed, so some of the usual things you readers are used to seeing (ex: Hiruma-kun, Ukitake-taichou, etc,etc...) will not be seen here. Too much trouble and I apologize for the inconvenience. There are pairings in this fic, so for those of you who decide to review, for god sakes, NO YAOI OR X-OVER PAIRING IDEAS! I could however, use some world and character ideas.

I now present to you, Kingdom Hearts: Anime Edition Prologue detailing Sora's new companions!

Prologue 1: Yoichi Hiruma

"Get running, Damn Pipsqueaks!" shouted Yoichi Hiruma eagerly, chasing Sena Kobayakawa and Taro Raimon with a high-power rifle. Behind him Mamori Anezaki struggled to keep up, swinging her mop at the back of his head.

Hiruma loved mornings like this, free to torture his teammates with the always present mother-hen of a manager multiple steps behind him. He often wondered why she even bothered, not that he minded much. " I wouldn't run off the field if I were you!" he cackled loudly, thinking of the hour he spent burying land mines to keep the basketball team away. Monta attempted to jump off the field and landed on one of the mines. Hiruma continued to chase Sena around while Mamori called an ambulance.

"all right, 15 minute break and the back to practice!"Hiruma shouted.

Sena, now in fetal position, skittered away while Mamori, shuffled papers around in the clubhouse. Hiruma wandered into the locker room, got changed into his school uniform and sat in a chair, chewing on sugarless gum as looked up from putting together a basket of fruit for Monta. " Hey, you said practice would continue in 15 minutes and here you are all dressed for class!"she snapped.

Hiruma opened the door to the clubhouse and walked out. "I said practice would continue for them. I have somewhere to go now." After finishing his sentence, he left the campus and headed to the mall.

"How about that, Hiruma! You look cool in that outfit!" said Ryokan Kurita, holding up a mirror. Gen Takekura, Musashi, had gotten a bonus for some roof work before leaving his construction job. So, he decided to go celebrate a Deimon victory by buying Hiruma and Kurita some new outfits as well as dinner.

"And why do I have to get a new outfit?" grumbled Hiruma. " Because I'm treating at a good restaurant and you are NOT going in your school uniform." said Musashi, putting some hangers on the racks above. " we'll take the clothes that he's wearing ma'am." Musashi paid the clerk behind the counter while Hiruma tugged at the scarf of his new outfit.

A brilliant red scarf that reached his waist adorned his sleeveless black turtleneck. White crisscrossing belts draped over his loosely form-fitting black jeans that covered his white tennis shoes. Hiruma continued tugging at the scarf until he realized that the stitches for each row was different. He began to pick at it with his nails."Where did this scarf come from?"

Kurita smiled at him. " We all made it. Me, Anezaki, Musashi, Sena and all the others pitched in and helped make it. Is it too long?" " No, I guess it's fine," remarked Hiruma while thinking quietly to himself, " Note to self: Put this damn thing in storage."

After Musashi was done talking to the clerk, all three of them walked outside of the retail center. Hiruma began to walk away " I'm going to go check out the gun store nearby." Kurita waved. " Okay, but meet us later. We'll be in the food court." Hiruma walked two blocks down to the nearby gun shop. There, he got most of his weaponry.

Walking into the store, his eye fell upon a beautiful silver gun resting in a display case. Walking over to it, he admired the way a gold crown had been engraved onto the side of the barrel. The store clerk walked over to the case. " Just got it this morning. Darn thing won't shoot, no matter who held it and the thing is loaded . I'm gonna auction it off later. The usual bullets?"

Hiruma is a regular at the gun shop and even though the clerk was listed in Hiruma's black book, the clerk was friendly to a fellow gun-lover , no matter the cause. Hiruma was purchasing new ammunition before a loud crash outside destroyed half the shop. He was now under what used to be a desk. Grumbling loudly, he kicked the desk off of him and it hit the ground and splintered into pieces.

"All right, who did that?" He snapped. Looking around, he jumped back at he sight of a black creature that stood several feet above him. Humanoid in shape, the creature sported a large heart shaped hole in it's chest. Stepping back as if to run, Hiruma looked down as he heard glass crunch beneath his feet. The display case that held the silver gun had been shattered and the gun now lay at his feet.

Picking it up, he opened up the case and saw that it was indeed loaded. " I'll give it to the clerk later." He thought, aiming at the creature's waist. Pulling back the trigger, Hiruma was amazed that the gun didn't send him sprawling. The gun had a very small recoil as if the gun was meant to be used in fast action fighting. The bullet however, hit the creature with the force of a cannon. Hiruma didn't stop to ponder the facts; that creature needed to be taken down and fast.

Taking the initiative, Hiruma jumped onto his opponent's wildly flailing arm and fired two shots into it's wrist. Roaring in pain, the creature slammed it's other arm into the ground below, covering itself and Hiruma in a ball of darkness. In the dark void Hiruma held on tightly to the silver gun before falling unconscious.

When Hiruma came to, he was lying on grass. Sitting upright, he looked up at a giant tower before a moan from the bushes behind startled him. Drawing his gun, Hiruma parted the bushes carefully and addressed the boy rubbing his head. " Who are you?" The boy looked at Hiruma before running a hand through his bright orange hair.

" I'm Ichigo. Ichigo Kurosaki."

--

Ichigo looked at Hiruma curiously. Ten minutes before, he had been helping defend the soul society from a wave of weird creatures and now he was in a weird place with a person he didn't even know. Ichigo shifted his gaze over to the looming tower in the distance before turning back to look at Hiruma. " What's your name?"

Hiruma put his gun away. " Yoichi Hiruma."

Ichigo glanced upward for a few seconds. " Are you Japanese too?" Hiruma began to walk away, clearly ignoring him. " What's it to you, Damn Strawberry?"

Ichigo shook his fist at Hiruma. " Don't call me that! And besides, you look like a baby chick that touched an electric socket!" Hiruma turned back to face him. " You want to run that "baby chick" comment by me again?" Ichigo smirked at him " A baby chick." Hiruma growled, but eventually a calm expression washed over his face. " I don't have time to argue with you. I'd like to get home as soon as possible."

Ichigo's anger subsided and he began walking towards the tower with Hiruma trotting behind him. " So, I'm guessing you are Japanese. What area do you live in?" he asked, attempting to be friendly. "I go to Deimon High school." was the reply. Ichigo had never heard of Deimon before. "Never heard of it before. I live in Karakura town."

Hiruma began to pry at the doors, straining for a few seconds before sitting down in disgust. " I've never heard of Karakura town. Damn door won't open!" Sensing an opportunity to annoy Hiruma, Ichigo eagerly went at the door to find that he too, could not open it. Grunting in anger, he drew Zangetsu and swung it at the doors. The doors rattled as if someone was on the other side, using body weight to keep the door closed. He and Hiruma strained to hear the voice on the other side of the door.

" Are you human?" came the small voice on the other side of the door.

Ichigo and Hiruma exchanged glances and turned back to the door. "Yes." announced Ichigo in a loud voice. The voice spoke again. " Are the black monsters gone?" Ichigo rose his voice once more. " Yes, they're gone. Can we come in now?" The doors inched open and Hiruma walked inside only to come face to face with another gunslinger , brandishing four guns and a long blue scarf that matched his blue hair.

"I'm Zero. Nice to meet you." remarked the gunslinger. Ichigo reached out his hand and Zero shook it. " I'm Ichigo Kurosaki, call me Ichigo. And this is Yoichi Hiruma." Hiruma walked past Zero. "Call me Hiruma. How did you get here?" Zero pointed through the door which Ichigo was pushing closed. " I came here during a fight with these two strange red and blue giants. I got caught in the blast and ended up here. When I woke up, I saw some more black creatures, so I ran in here and slammed the door shut. A little while later, you guys came to the door."

Hiruma looked up the huge spiraling staircase inside the tower. " Sounds like what I was doing, except the creature I saw was a giant humanoid with a heart-shaped hole in its chest." Ichigo stood at the foot of the staircase. " what I saw was a large ball thing wrapped in chains. I killed it, but it changed into something else and then I got caught in a blast just as well." Zero glanced at the stairs. " Do you guys mind if I travel with you until I get home?" Ichigo shrugged.

"We're all going to have to travel together to get home. Now get moving! These stairs aren't going to climb themselves!" snapped Hiruma from the stairs above.

Ichigo and Zero ran to keep up with Hiruma's paced climb. Several minutes later, the three of them stopped in front of a swirling door of light. Zero eyed the door nervously and looked at Ichigo. " Think it's safe?"

Ichigo stared at the door before answering. " We won't know until we go in there." Ichigo led the way with Hiruma behind him, Zero bringing up the rear. Ichigo glanced around the new room that they were in. " Seems safe to me." Hiruma looked at Zero. " You can let go of my scarf now." Zero sheepishly let go of the scarf and bowed his head in apology. All three of them walked over to the door on the other side of the room and inspected it carefully. The arrow on the door pointed up, meaning it led to another floor.

"Seems stupid to put a room where the first floor ends." remarked Hiruma, reaching for the door. A shimmering wall sprang up around the door preventing exit as several of the black creatures appeared from the floor. Hiruma cleared out the ones in front of them while Zero cowered behind him. Ichigo, taking the opportunity to strike , mowed down all of the remaining creatures. " What's the matter with you?" he asked Zero.

Zero sighed to himself and held out one of his guns. " I don't kill people." Hiruma looked at him as if he was on drugs. " You need some damn glasses. Those things are not people!" Zero winced at the comment. " I know, but where I'm from, I've seen a lot of curses and these things might be people under curses!"

Ichigo pushed open the door to the next floor. "can we just GO before their buddies show up?!" Zero nodded and ran through the door, followed by Hiruma, both running after Ichigo.

--

Zero sighed to himself as he followed Ichigo and Hiruma up the stairs. He wished he was still back home traveling with Himeko. He had left her behind in order to protect her because since she was cursed by the gods, she was next to defenseless. Himeko, in fact, was the most powerful witch gunslinger in the land. She was forced to change her name from Kurohime to Himeko when she lost a battle with the gods. Kurohime had saved Zero when he was young and now he traveled with her to break her curse.

Zero was snapped out of his trip down memory lane by a curse from Hiruma. "Damn Strawberry, move your ass!" Ichigo pretended to ignore him and turned to Zero. " Zero, do you hear chirping? I wonder if there is a bird's nest above?" Zero sighed again as Hiruma started calling Ichigo all kinds of rude names. Ichigo retorted back with an imitation bird call and the two began fighting like two brothers fighting over the same toy.

Zero stepped over the slug-fest and continued walking up the stairs. This was the third set of stairs that they had climbed and all of their nerves had been worn down by repeated attacks by the black monsters.

Hiruma, hair ruffled and holding his nose, followed behind him, growling at Ichigo who had a hand over his eye. Zero turned back to Hiruma. "Is your nose broken?" Hiruma rubbed his nose once more before answering with a hint of malicious intent. " No, but it feels like I hit a wall." "Good." grumbled Ichigo. Hiruma smirked at him. " Can you open your eye yet, Damn Strawberry?"

"NO." was Ichigo's angry response.

Zero pointed up at a door waiting for them at the end of the stairway. " Another door. Think it's the last one?" Ichigo took his hand away from his eye and managed to open it. " It had better be. I'm tired of listening to Chick-head over here." Hiruma raised his hand to hit Ichigo again but instead lowered it when Zero reached for the door.

Opening the door carefully, Zero walked inside a room that had bookshelves in it as well as people. An elderly man sat behind a desk while a teenage boy with red hair and an eye patch over his right eye sat in front of the desk.

"Seems I have more visitors. Kindly find yourselves a seat and sit down." said the man.

"Who the hell are you, old man?" remarked Hiruma. Zero covered Hiruma's mouth and shoved him into a seat while the man regained his composure. " I am Yen Sid. Tell me, why are all of you here?" Zero, still covering Hiruma's mouth, spoke first. " My name is Zero and I woke up here after I was attacked by two giant monsters." Ichigo spoke next. " My name is Ichigo Kurosaki and I ended up here after meeting a monster as well." Zero yelped in pain as Hiruma sunk his teeth into his arm. Once free, Hiruma told Yen Sid his reason as well.

The red haired boy turned to them. " My name is Lavi. I was attacked by a similar monster with a scythe. Nice to meet you." Yen Sid held out his arms and beckoned for Zero and the others to look at the wall. Images of the black creatures, all different types, appeared on the wall as he began his narration. " Those " Black Monsters" are called Heartless. When a person loses their heart, they become one of these. Destroying them releases the heart. Larger Heartless are made up of several hearts. Sometimes, when a strong person loses their heart, a Nobody is created. Some Nobodies are even capable of speech and complex planning. "The image of the Heartless disappeared and was replace by a white creature that swayed back and forth.

Yen Sid continued his narration. " You individuals are from different worlds that have been lost. Your hearts were stronger than the force that took your worlds so you ended up here."

Hiruma's eyes fell on his scarf and he exchanged glances with Ichigo, who looked at the ground. Zero, fearing he would never see Himeko again, stepped forward. " Will we ever be able to go home?" Yen Sid nodded. " If the worlds are once again in turmoil, the Keyblade bearer, Sora, will soon arrive to help return the worlds to normal. If you four travel with him, you may be able to restore each of your homes." Ichigo groaned.

"Guess we don't have much of a choice here. When does Sora arrive?"

--

Lavi focused his attention on the new arrivals. He had no interest in why two of them were fighting with each other however, he was curious as to how they got in the same predicament he did. Lavi had been horsing around in the back of the Black Order when a creature carrying a scythe appeared. His innocence did nothing to it, so it wasn't an Akuma. When he awoke again, he was outside the tower. At the top he met Yen Sid and was in the process of getting some information when those three came through the door. After listening to Yen Sid's discussion, the four were ushered into the next room.

There they met Merryweather, Flora, and Fauna, the three fairies that lived in the tower with Yen Sid as well. " **Fairies**?!" exclaimed Hiruma in absolute disbelief. Lavi snickered quietly to himself as Hiruma checked his eyes in one of the mirrors in the room. Zero, attempting to make up for Hiruma's rudeness, introduced himself, Hiruma, and Ichigo." And this is..." he continued, looking at Lavi.

Lavi finished Zero's introduction."Lavi."

Flora smiled sweetly. " Well, there's only one reason as to why Yen Sid would send all of you to us; new clothes!" Fauna eagerly floated over to Ichigo and began measuring him. Hiruma stopped examining his eyes long enough for Merryweather to begin measuring him as well. Lavi leaned on the wall and patiently waited for his turn as Flora examined Zero. After measuring all the boys extensively, the three fairies huddled in a circle and began to talk quietly.

Lavi, putting his exorcist's cloak back over his shirt, walked over and tapped Fauna on the shoulder."Is there a problem?" he asked.

Flora turned to him. " We are going to enchant your clothes with magical abilities but I fear we will need more help." she explained. " Isn't there someone else that can help?" asked Ichigo. " Right behind you." came Yen Sid's voice. All in the room turned to see Yen Sid and the Fairy Godmother standing in the doorway.

"Yen Sid asked me to help prepare our new arrivals for their journey." said the Fairy Godmother. Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather joined the Fairy Godmother and Yen Sid and worked on each of the boys outfit's, one at a time.

Ichigo went first and the five cast their magic. Ichigo's outfit didn't change, but he did sense a feeling of power emanating from them. Zero was next. The only thing that they changed about his outfit was that they changed his shirt into a black turtleneck. " It might be cold for you in some worlds, dear" commented Flora.

Hiruma grudgingly trudged forward when called . When the fairies and Yen Sid tried to enchant Hiruma's outfit, the magic was reflected by an invisible barrier, causing the magic to fly everywhere. Zero dodged to the right and a red beam left Ichigo with pink hair. Lavi ducked behind a mirror which turned a green beam upwards, hitting a raven.

Lavi turned, ignoring Hiruma's laughter at Ichigo, and stared at the raven. The raven, now green in color, screeched and flew off. Lavi watched the raven until he could no longer see it before returning to watch a blue beam, which had reflected several times, turn a wall blue.

The fairies restored Ichigo's hair color to it's original state while Yen Sid examined Hiruma carefully. " Do you possess a magical object?" he asked. Hiruma shook his head no, Yen Sid then took a closer look at his scarf. " This scarf was made by several people, was it not?"

Hiruma nodded yes, and Yen Sid took a part of it in his hand. " This scarf is what reflected our magic. The people who made it had put their hearts into it and now it protects you from magic spells." Hiruma gently took the scarf off and laid it on the table next to him so the magic enchant would work properly this time. After they were done, Hiruma put the scarf back on.

Lavi stepped forward and they cast their spell on him too. His silver accessories now had a red tinge about them and his exorcist's symbol was now on his orange scarf as a pin rather than on his uniform. Yen Sid turned to leave the room. " Sora and his friends should be arriving shortly. When you travel with him, find a man named Merlin. He also has something that you will need in your journeys."

After Yen Sid left, the Fairy Godmother stated that, she too, must leave. She then left in a puff of multicolored smoke.

Once alone, the three fairies turned to the group. " For some of you, your clothes may have not changed but your abilities have." Flora flicked her wand gingerly and several orbs hovered around the room. "See these orbs? These orbs are able to change your fighting ability dramatically. Ichigo, will you please take the closest on to you?"

Ichigo traded glances with Zero,Hiruma, and Lavi. Lavi nodded at him slightly. " I think it should be alright." Ichigo reached out an touched the orb closest to him. Instead of taking it into his palm, the orb was absorbed into his hand. His outfit glowed for a split second before it changed altogether. Ichigo looked at his new outfit before realizing that he was in his Bankai form but blood red in color, Zangetsu now was a dull red in color as well. He also realized that that half of the upper part, from the skull to the upper jaw of his Hollow mask was on the left side of his face yet he could still see clearly.

Suddenly nervous, he did a mental check to make sure he was still in control. Hichigo was either not paying attention or wasn't awake, because Ichigo couldn't sense movement. Lavi whistled at Ichigo. " Don't you look frightening. Watch where you put that sword though."

Hiruma sighed in obvious disgust until the fairies told the rest of the group to take the orbs closest to them as well. Zero's outfit, red in color as well, now bore two guns instead of four while Hiruma now had two guns instead of one. The ends of Zero's once blue now red scarf as well as Hiruma's scarf ended in some nasty looking claws which Hiruma found that he could move freely, like a second set of arms.

Lavi stood examining himself in the mirror, gazing at his red exorcist's uniform with black pants and red boots. His silver accessories were pitch black in color and his orange scarf had turned black as well. His Innocence had turned red too. Ichigo turned to the fairies. " What is this?" Fauna answered him with a soft smile.

"These outfits you're in now are the manifestations of your powers. There are other outfits as well but you'll have to find them while traveling with Sora. Unlike Sora's garments, these don't rely on the powers of others, just your own abilities." Merryweather finished up with a warning. " Since these aren't like Sora's clothes, you'll be tired sometimes after using them. Use them when you need them."

Lavi reverted back to his original look, followed by the others. Flora mentioned that Yen Sid wished to see them after they were done, so Lavi and the rest of the group went into Yen Sids' room once more to hear him speak.

-Destiny Islands-

Sora, Riku, and Kairi exchanged glances as Sora read aloud from King Mickey's letter.

" Dear Sora and Friends,

After we defeated Organization XIII and saved Kingdom Hearts as well as the worlds, Donald,Goofy and I returned to Disney Castle. Much to our confusion, Heartless appeared once more a few days after our return. Donald and Goofy were protecting the castle while I searched for the source.

To our horror, a individual dressed in black had stolen the Cornerstone of Light! Fearing the worst, I sent Chip and Dale to pick you up as soon as possible, but a swarm of Heartless prevented them from leaving.

Using our combined power, Donald, Goofy and I managed to open a passageway for the gummi ship to leave but we were left behind. Merlin managed to teleport into the castle and deliver a message for me to Leon, who in turn got Cid to transfer a message to your world.

Several new worlds are in chaos which is interrupting the once peaceful balance of the worlds. I ask you as a friend, Sora, will you please rid Disney Castle of this threat, retrieve the Cornerstone of Light, and investigate as to why the balance of the worlds is being interrupted?

-King Mickey"

As if on cue, the gummi ship that Sora had used in previous adventures came flying through the sky, eventually landing on the shore.

Sora hurtled towards the ship, with Riku not too far behind him. Kairi coughed from the sand being kicked up as she ran after them as well. Reaching the ship, Sora and Riku opened the door to find Chip and Dale.

" Are you guys okay?" asked Sora. Chip nodded solemnly. " We're okay, but the castle is still in danger!" Dale jumped up and down impatiently as if to give further emphasis on the matter. "Sora, please hurry!" Sora turned to look at Destiny Islands before leaping inside the ship. He didn't want to leave his home but if he didn't do anything, his home might be swallowed up again.

Turning to the controls, he jumped a little as he felt Riku and Kairi hop into the ship with him. " Why are you guys coming?" he asked, stunned. Riku looked at him as if he was sleep talking.

"Donald and Goofy won't be with us for awhile. Do you really thing you can handle all of those Heartless and Nobodies by yourself?" he explained. Sora turned red with embarrassment. " Yeah, I guess so." he then looked at Kairi. " You're coming too?"

Kairi nodded happily. "This time I'm coming with you. You guys will probably need a cook anyways." she said. Sora and Riku turned red; what she said was true. Riku crossed his legs in his seat. " Here's what we'll do. Kairi: you'll be in charge of snacks and meals." Kairi agreed and he continued " I'll help Sora defeat the Heartless and the Nobodies as well as travel the worlds with him. And Sora? You'll do what you do best: Screw up the enemy's plans without realizing it."

Sora pumped his fist into the air. " All right! I'll just... HEY!" Sora fumed as Kairi laughed. Still fuming, Sora took the controls of the gummi ship and , with Chip and Dale acting as guides, steered the ship out of Destiny Islands towards their new adventure.

With Chip and Dale's guidance, Sora soon set the ship down in front of Yen Sid's tower. "_ Why does this tower appear taller every time I see it?_" wondered Sora as he, Riku, and Kairi began to climb the stairs.

In each of the rooms, Sora and Riku dealt with Heartless until they reached the top. " I wonder what Yen Sid has to tell us," remarked Kairi as she opened the door on the last flight of stairs.

Sora and Riku were shocked as they saw that the room had five people in it. Sora knew Yen Sid, but the four teens in front of him were unfamiliar. " Ah, Sora. These four individuals have lost their homes and are in need of assistance. Would you mind taking them with you?" said Yen Sid.

Sora looked at each teen in earnest before nodding his head. " If that's Sora, we're doomed. Just shoot my ass now." moaned Hiruma. Zero shushed Hiruma with his hand. " Be quiet please, Sora is the only one who can help us."

Lavi agreed with Zero. " Not in your best interest to make the only person who can help you mad." he mentioned. Ichigo chuckled to himself until a glare from Hiruma silenced him. Kairi placed a hand on her hip. " Who are you guys?"

Zero twisted his chair around to face her. " I'm Zero, this is Ichigo, that's Lavi and he's Hiruma. Nice to meet you." he replied with a bow of his head. Kairi bowed back as Hiruma glared at Riku. Riku returned the glare and Hiruma lost interest.

Sora found a chair and listened as each of the four told their stories. After Zero had finished, Riku took the opportunity to speak. " So each of you have lost your worlds and now you need to restore them so you can go home? And you want to travel with us to do that?" Ichigo and Zero nodded vigorously while Hiruma and Lavi stared into space. " But we don't have enough room in the gummi ship," began Kairi.

Yen Sid waved a hand at the window. " That's why I took the liberty of asking your friend Cid to make a large ship capable of accommodating extra passengers."

A large gummi ship hovered outside the window, hatch open and waiting for passengers. Yen Sid continued talking. " Sora, before you go, have your clothes updated for the worlds that you may be encountering later. Not much is known about the new worlds and anything can happen." Sora headed into the room where the three fairies were. Yen Sid told Riku and Kairi to go in there too, because they also need to be prepared for their travels.

After they were done, Sora and the two came back into the room.

Yen Sid watched them load into the gummi ship, sighing slightly when Hiruma and Ichigo fought over a seat, before leaving them with some parting words. " Remember this, all of you: Though you paths may separate and rejoin, know that you are never alone and that those you care for will help you in your darkest hour. Keep that in your heart and you will be able to save those who need you as much as you need them. You are far stronger as a group than by yourself. Farewell and may you succeed in you journey."

"Goddamn, can he get any more ominous?" remarked Hiruma as the gummi ship departed, bound for unfamiliar and familiar worlds alike.

End prologue 1

Author's note: Zero is a character for the series Kurohime, called Mahotsukai Kurohime in Japanese. Zero is a pacifist gunslinger who has the ability to wield four guns at high speeds. He will not kill anyone, even if it is to save his own life

0.o wow, that was long... I'll update as soon as I can so review and tell me what you think. No flames please!


	2. A New enemy in Radiant Garden!

Chapter 1: A New Enemy in Radiant Garden?

For conveniences sake, I took the previous Chapter 1 and merged it with this one for clarification and length purposes.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the series listed in this fanfic.

--

"Hey, Damn Strawberry! Down in front! I can't see the scenery!"

Ichigo growled at Hiruma's comment before regaining his composure. " If you're going to crow at the sunrise, there's an electric light over there you can use." Both got in each others faces and bickered about absolutely nothing.

Zero sighed while Lavi turned the page of a book that Yen Sid had lent him. It had been an hour since they left Yen Sid's tower and those two had done nothing but fight continuously. Even Sora was contemplating hitting the autopilot button on the dashboard and then making the two shut up forcibly.

"Got a problem, Strawberry?" sneered Hiruma. Ichigo scowled at him. " Yeah, I've got a problem. It's two inches taller than me* and is a royal pain in the ass!" " QUIET!!" yelled Lavi, slamming his book shut and hitting them both on the head with his hammer. " God! You two have been bickering since you've met and frankly we're getting tired of it! Form a truce and get along even if it's only for a little while!"

After his outburst, Lavi slumped back in his chair and opened his book again. Zero perked up with a sudden thought. " How about this? Hiruma, you stop calling everyone you meet rude nicknames and in return, Ichigo will stop throwing heavy objects at your head for five worlds. After five worlds you two can resume your grudge match. Okay?" Ichigo calmed down and held out his hand. " I can live with that. Truce?"

Hiruma snarled softly, but he knew full well that Zero was going to harass him endlessly; he seemed like the type to do so. " Fine. For now, I'll play along. Five worlds, remember that, straw-ah, Ichigo." Hiruma extended his hand as well and the two shook hands. Riku, happy that that matter was finally settled, lounged on a chair and stared out one of the windows. Kairi, leaning on Sora's chair suddenly began pointing at a world in the distance. " Look guys! A world!"

All of the group crowded the window, trying to look at the world they were approaching. " I think it's, umf, Radiant, get OFF me, Garden." groaned Sora as he pushed Ichigos' arm out of his face.

"Don't you mean Hollow Bastion?" Riku stated. " That is the town's true name." remarked Sora.

"Let's go say hello to everyone." Kairi reached out and tapped the autopilot which was designed to go to the nearest world in the local vicinity.

-Radiant Garden-

"It's kinda nice to be back." commented Sora as they walked through the streets of Radiant Garden.

"Yeah, minus the Heartless." Riku teased. Sora took the group on a small tour, showing them the construction site, the main plaza, the Bailey, and the Crystal Fissure. After he was done, he led them to Merlin's house which Hiruma described it as an "inventor's paradise." Zero couldn't help but agree with him. " Merlin? Are you home?" Sora called as he opened the door.

"The door wouldn't be unlocked if he wasn't." remarked Ichigo sarcastically. Merlin appeared right next to Lavi in a puff of smoke. "Someone call me?" Lavi jumped away from him and landed on a pile of books that fell over. Quickly apologizing, Lavi bent over to pick up some of the books when a hand reached out from under the pile.

" You dropped this, kid." The hand held a book out to Lavi. " Cid?" asked Sora. Cid rose from the pile of books. " At your service, Sora. What do you need today? Don't tell me you want me to work on my day off?" Sora smiled. " Actually, we're here to visit Merlin today. Where's Leon and Yuffie?" " Out at the Bailey." Cid answered. Merlin turned to Sora. " Now, what did you come see me for, Sora?" Riku waved a hand towards the new members of the group. " They should learn how to use magic at least. Can you help them with that?"

Merlin stroked his beard thoughtfully before answering. " I can show them, but whether or not they master it is up to them. Not everyone can learn magic, mind you. Well then, we should get to practice, shouldn't we?" Merlin clapped his hands together and the four of them were transported to a room full of chairs and cupboards. Sora, Riku, and Kairi stayed behind to talk with Cid.

Now then, Let's get started." Merlin held out his hand and a small ball of flames appeared, hovering just above his palm. " This is the Fire spell. Rather simple, you just have to have control of the direction of the flame." Zero attempted to cast Fire, but only succeeded in blowing himself up. Lavi took a shot at it, but the results were the same. Ichigo stood there, completely confused, while Hiruma did nothing.

"Hey, Hiruma! How about actually DOING something?!" gasped Lavi, beating out Zero's last failed attempt. "Actually, you two have been casting fire the whole time. It's just that neither of you have learned how to aim." replied Hiruma.

Lavi and Zero exchanged glances with each other. " Can YOU do it?" asked Zero. Hiruma walked near one of the cupboards and cast Fire. A fireball materialized in his palm and he threw it at the cupboard, setting it ablaze. Ichigo scoffed in the corner, still confused. Hiruma drew back his arm. " Any questions?"

"Well done, lad! Well done!" cheered Merlin. Hiruma shot a smirk at Ichigo, who in turn scowled. Zero tried again and managed to not set himself on fire, but didn't hit any targets. Ichigo made an attempt and actually produced a flame. The flame was misguided however, and Lavi was suddenly thankful for fireproof uniforms.

The four continued to practice; Ichigo,Lavi,and Zero moved on to practicing Blizzard while Hiruma played around with Thunder. Hiruma seemed rather adept at magic as Merlin pointed out; He mastered most of the spells faster than the others. Ichigo, on the other hand, managed to master the same spells, but much more slowly.

An hour later, Sora and Riku came to check on them. Riku walked over to Merlin "How are they doing?" Merlin thoughtfully stroked his beard. " They've learned the basics, I trust you'll teach them the rest?" Riku nodded while Sora walked over to Lavi. " How are you guys doing?"

Lavi lifted his head and stretched his shoulders. " Fine. Where's Kairi?" Sora pointed outside. " Still talking with Cid." Ichigo leaned against a cupboard. " I'm going stir-crazy in here, is the training over?"

Sora laughed. " Yeah, I think that's enough. Thanks, Merlin. We're going to go talk with Cid now." Merlin waved briskly and the group left.

Cid and Kairi were so engrossed in their discussion that they didn't hear Sora and the other approaching. Zero walked over to Kairi and tapped her shoulder. " Um, excuse me." Kairi jumped slightly. " Oh! Hi, Zero. Back from training?" Zero nodded and sat down on a chair. Cid scratched his head. " So, Kairi, as I was saying, Tron was telling me about an error in the system that he found about a day ago, so now we're trying to fix it and-"

Cid's sentence was cut short as Tifa burst through the front door gasping loudly. Sora immediately stood up from where he was sitting. " Tifa! What's wrong?" Tifa continued to wheeze as she pointed a finger out the door she came through. " Postern...Leon...Heartless...person in black..." She took a few seconds to catch her breath before speaking again. " Leon is trapped at the Postern by a Large Heartless and a person dressed in black! Please, come with me and help save Leon!"

--

Zero raced out the door without a moment's thought before sheepishly coming back to ask where the Postern was again. Sora raced out the door with him, closely followed by Lavi and Ichigo. Hiruma hung back long enough for to help Tifa into a chair to rest. About to bolt out the door after Sora, he was stopped by Cid.

"What do you want?! Don't you want us to save your friend?!" he snarled. Cid gave him a cell phone.

"Here. Tron told me to give it to one of you." Hiruma, pissed that he wasn't able to leave, snatched the phone from him. "What does it do?"

A voice came from the phone, almost causing Hiruma to drop it. " I can communicate with you through the phone, call me if you need something_._"replied Cid. Cid had an earpiece on and he smirked slightly. Hiruma sighed as he turned to Cid. " Your little interruption caused me to lose track of the group. Thankfully, I know the way to the Postern. Good-bye." He then bolted out the door and disappeared from Cid's view.

Once Hiruma was gone, Cid closed the door and turned to where Tifa was resting. " Tifa, if you wait a few minutes to fully catch your breath, you can-" Cid stopped short when he saw the empty chair. He whirled to look at the door before shrugging. Tifa had probably raced after them when he wasn't looking. Sighing he went to find Kairi, who had stayed behind, and continue telling her about the computer problem.

--

Zero whined quietly to himself as he wandered the open areas of the Bailey. Sora and the others had gotten ahead of him and had left him behind. Thinking that they had taken a shortcut, he ran down a path and got lost. Heartless weren't helping the situation either, he was only getting more disoriented. Stopping by the remains of a crane, he called out to the open air. " Sora? Riku? Lavi? Ichigo? Hiruma? Where are you? Can anybody hear me?" Disheartened, he sat down on the ground and whimpered slightly.

"Over here. Over here."

Jumping, Zero circled a crane in an attempt to find the owner of the voice.

"This way, This way. You'll never help them if you stay here." came the voice from further ahead.

Against his better instincts, Zero followed the voice. " Who are you?" Zero asked. " I mean, if you can tell me." silence greeted him for several minutes and Zero thought the voice had deserted him in spite.

" I don't have a name..." was the eventual reply.

Zero tilted his head with a smile. " Oh, come on. Everyone who is born has some kind of name. What do you friends call you?" The return of silence made Zero question if his guide was angry or just thinking. His answer came when the voice called back to him, only quieter. " What are 'friends'? I don't understand..."

Zero looked in the direction that the voice was leading him in utter confusion. " Friends are people who share the same likes as you do and you like to have fun with them." Almost instantly, Zero half expected him to ask what fun was. The question never came. " We're almost there. Head down the side of this machine and you'll be in front of the Postern. Good-bye."

Zero clambered up the side of the machine. " Even though you say don't have a name, my name is Zero. Thank you, and may you remember your name real soon!" he then slid down the side of the machine into the area below.

A figure perched on one of the nearby machines, watching Zero slide down the machinery. " Good-bye, Zero."

--

A shadow clutched helplessly at the ground as Hiruma forcibly dragged it over to Sora. " Let's try this,"he said, before chucking the shadow into the air. The shadow disappeared on a seemingly invisible wall. Hiruma had caught up to Sora, Lavi, and Ichigo, but all of them found that they couldn't enter the Postern.

Riku came out from behind a crane with a fist-sized rock and threw it at where the wall was. It landed harmlessly on the ground several feet away. " I guess lifeless objects can pass through." he then sidled away, looking for a larger rock.

Hiruma rapped his hand against the wall. " Lifeless? That means Ichigo can walk through. Go on, Re-dead."

Ichigo grabbed Hiruma by the arm and hurled him into the wall with destructive force. He slightly regretted telling them that Soul Reapers were practically dead.

"Nope. Not even Hiruma can get through those walls. They're definitely solid."

Hiruma slid down the wall and rubbed his nose while cursing quietly. Turning, Ichigo's eye's widened at the sight of Lavi's hammer, which had quadrupled in size. Lavi raised the hammer over his head. " Duck!" Everyone ducked as Lavi swung his hammer with devastating force into the wall, creating shockwaves. Riku lifted his head up from his rock search to determine the source of the loud crash.

Lavi had dropped his hammer and was wobbling about like a person who was using a jackhammer improperly. " W-w-w-well, w-w-wasn't th-that an interesting e-ex-experience? Ow-ow-w..." Amidst Hiruma's peals of laughter, Zero slid down next to him. " What's going on? Why is everybody standing around like this? What's wrong with you, Lavi?"

In between chuckles, Hiruma explained the current situation. Pissed, Ichigo charged at the wall, Zangetsu drawn, and rammed it a full speed. A small cut appeared and then vanished. Sora rubbed his eyes and stared at the wall. " Do that again, Ichigo." Rather than gather momentum for an encore impact, Ichigo opted for slicing at the wall. A larger cut appeared on the wall.

"Did you guys see that? A hole was there, if only for a minute." remarked Zero, putting his hands on the wall. Ichigo slashed at the wall again, and again the cut appeared. " That is weird. Think it's a clue to getting in?" asked Ichigo as he turned to Sora. Sora nodded eagerly as Riku surfaced right beside him, startling him.

" I found a Keyhole!" crowed Riku proudly.

Sora twisted his neck trying to get a better look at the rock that was propped up against the side of the barrier. A hole in the shape of a keyhole was apparent on the rock, Sora drew his keyblade and undid the lock. After a few seconds of staring at each other, Riku ventured forward and touched a pipe that had been protected by the barrier.

" I guess we can go in now. Come on, everyone, we don't have a minute to waste!"

Heeding Riku's words, Sora and the others headed for the Postern.

At the entrance to Ansem's chambers, Sora paused to catch his breath. Heartless had been populating the lower levels of the Postern and weren't fond of intruders. A fight had erupted and it turned into a free-for-all brawl when some really large heartless began appearing.

"This Leon guy had better thank us when we save him or I'm throwing him to the shadows." grumbled Ichigo, propping himself against his sword. Hiruma grunted in agreement and Zero nodded his head. Riku came back from his little trip in scouting ahead. " It's all clear, not a single Heartless. Hey, where's Lavi?"

All of them looked around. Lavi had vanished into thin air. Sora waved his arm warily. " He's probably lost."

--

Truth be told, Lavi was very lost. He had turned a corner during one of their battles and had gotten lost. "This is just great. Lost in the middle of Heartless haven." he moaned, crushing a shadow underfoot.

"HELLFIRE!" at his call, his hammer generated intense flames in the shape of a snake which engulfed and destroyed several Heartless. He rounded several corners until eventually considering smashing everything in sight until he found his bearings.

" _No, Lavi. Calm down. Nothing is going to be solved by just smashing everything. There has got to be some kind of map or landmark around here that I can use..."_ he quietly told himself. Deep in his thoughts, Lavi continued to walk through the Postern until he came upon a room that appeared to have once been someone's study.

" Wonder what was studied in this place..." he thought as he picked up some of the papers scattered all over the ground. Dropping the papers, he held his hammer menacingly as a figure entered the room from an unseen door.

The man glared at him, eyes hazed over with malice. "Uh, sir? Is there a problem?" Lavi asked as he instinctively backed up and out of the room. The man reached behind him and drew a sword that was very large. Not as large as Ichigo's sword, but still impressive. Another impressive quality of the blade was that the handle bore a strong resemblance to a gun.

"Whoa!" yelped Lavi as the man swung at him wildly. There were no human action or intent behind that swing; It felt like a robot was just following his master's orders.

"_Can't fight in here, Sora and the others might find a clue in here. No choice, gotta lead him into that clearing that I found a while back. There I might be able to stop this guy."_ thought Lavi as he ducked another swipe and reversed directions, heading back through the way he came.

"Come back here and DIE quietly, Lavi." drawled the man, voice not wavering from a monotone pitch.

"Not a chance! And how do you know my name?!"

" I know all of your friends names. They sicken me. They will die after I'm through with you. Now hurry up and DIE!" drawing the sword inwards, the man charged forward in a jousting charge. Lavi rounded a sudden corner sharply, dodging the attack. He smirked slightly as the man's sword got stuck in the wall behind him.

Lavi darted around yet another corner and collided with Ichigo, both them falling to the ground in a tangled heap.

"Hey! Ouch, Lavi! Where have you been?!"

" Never mind where I've been! We gotta go now! The guy behind me wants all of us dead!"

The two untangled themselves and then retreated back further along the path. Meeting Zero en route, the three raced back to where Sora, Riku and Hiruma waited.

Stopping, Lavi wheezed and pointed back the way they came. " Crazy psycho with a blade with a gun handle!" Sora lifted his eyebrows and eyed Lavi curiously. " A blade with a gun handle?"

The man finally caught up with them, and brandished his sword once more as Sora's mouth hung open in amazement. "Leon?"

--

Leon charged again but Sora blocked with his Keyblade and forced him back. " Leon! What's the matter with you?!" Riku sighed as he drew his Keyblade. " Sora, you need to differentiate between anger and mind control." Sora grunted as Leon swung harder and forced him away again.

This being a two-on-one fight, Leon was at a clear disadvantage until he increased the sword's size and attacked more aggressively, pinning both Sora and Riku in a corner. He had also brought a small horde of Heartless with him, preventing any rescue attempts by both Ichigo and Zero. Lavi was too exhausted from running at top speed through the maze like structure to even consider helping the ongoing fight between Leon and the others; The Heartless were all he could manage at the moment.

Sora yelped in pain as Leon withdrew from a sword attack and opted for kicking him painfully in the ribs. Riku swung his Keyblade forward and prevented Leon from trying to deal Sora a painful injury but received a nasty punch to the jaw for his interference.

" INCOMING!!!"

Hiruma came hurtling from god-knows-where and planted both feet in the side of Leon's head, landing with grace as he glanced around the room suspiciously.

"Where the HELL have you been?!" snarled Ichigo.

" Evading that!" he remarked, running down another open corridor as Tifa rushed after him, her punches barely missing vital parts.

Ichigo stood up again and glared at the Heartless that seemed to just keep coming. " Getsuga Tensho!"

A high concentrated slash tore through the walls and eliminated nearly everything in it's path. The only things that survived was some pitiful shadows that had sunk into the ground prior to the attack.

" Was that Tifa just now?" asked Sora, gently nudging the fallen Leon, who had been an unfortunate collateral victim of Ichigo's attack.

Lavi stood up from his crouched position. " I guess. Wonder what the problem was with the attacks. I haven't seen any large Heartless around but I did find a study room that might hold some clues."

Sora shrugged. " That was Ansem's study. We've been there a few times when we visit this place."

Riku looked slightly heavenward. " Haven't really been in there myself. I'd like to go see it. Lavi, can you show the way?"

Lavi stared at him in disgust. " Do you even have the faintest idea as to how many times I got lost?! I couldn't find that room again unless it was right in front of me!"

Sora pointed behind him. " It's down that hall."

Lavi felt very stupid as he followed Riku to the study, Zero tagging at his heels.

Hiruma finally returned from his wild escape and leaned himself against a nearby wall, laughing at Ichigo. Ichigo demanded to know what was going on and in response, Hiruma pointed at his head. A shadow Heartless had made itself rather comfortable upon his head and was gnawing away. Sora could resist chuckling at the fact that Ichigo hadn't noticed the offender chewing on his head and that none of the chewing seemed to bother him.

Ichigo quickly destroyed said offender and stormed past Hiruma into the hallway, muttering obscenities. Hiruma lazily made his way over to Sora and crouched beside Leon, who was still unconscious. " So... This is Leon? Didn't seem like he was in much trouble to me. More like causing the damn trouble."

Sora shook his head. " And Tifa was chasing you earlier, What's going on?"

" You tell me. You know these people. I just met them."

" Thank you for your input, Hiruma."

" Doing what I can with what I've got."

"... You live for irritating others, don't you?"

" It passes the time during classes."

"ah."

Hiruma turned Leon onto his back and examined him. " Did Leon always have this mark on his back?"

Sora looked at Leon as well. A complex pattern could be seen on his back as if it had always been there and was a simple fact of life. " No."

" I put that there. And unless you just die peacefully with no fuss, it'll stay there. Forever." sneered a malicious voice.

Whirling around, Sora and Hiruma came face to face with Lavi, sitting on a damaged pipe while smiling crookedly. His green eye shone under a mass of jet-black hair and glinted in the faint light overhead. Doing a double-take, both of them realized that this Lavi wasn't the one that they were traveling with.

Sora summoned his Keyblade and growled at the Lavi look-alike. " You're not Lavi! Who are you?"

At the mention of "Lavi" the look-alike changed expressions from evil grin to pure hatred. In one swift movement, he was beside Hiruma, punching him into a wall before Sora could even react. Before Sora could react, the look-alike had a hand around Sora's throat and lifted him into the air.

" My name is Xavil. Don't ever forget it. Not now, not even in your grave."

End Chapter 1

0.o ...... New chapter as soon as possible! (provided I get more reviews... I, like other authors, are motivated by them ) please stay tuned!

Sorry about the cheesey OC name... not very original... but it was spur of the moment and MUST be obeyed!


	3. Xavil

Chapter 2: Xavil

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the series listed in this fanfic.

Recap:

Sora summoned his Keyblade and growled at the Lavi look-alike. " You're not Lavi! Who are you?"

At the mention of "Lavi" the look-alike changed expressions from evil grin to pure hatred. In one swift movement, he was beside Hiruma, punching him into a wall before Sora could even react. Before Sora could react, the look-alike had a hand around Sora's throat and lifted him into the air.

" My name is Xavil. Don't ever forget it. Not now, not even in your grave."

--

Sora tugged at Xavil's fingers, trying to free himself from this new threat. Xavil, feeling Sora tug at his hands, tightened his grasp, taking immense pleasure in the sounds of Sora gasping for air.

"Ouch. First time I've been knocked around like that."

Xavil turned in surprise as a bullet grazed his ear, dropping Sora to the ground. Hiruma had pulled himself out of the rubble and was aiming again for another shot, using his free hand to clean the blood off his face. Xavil's single jade-colored eye narrowed at him. "I thought that was at least enough to render you unconscious."

"Yeah, well, when you've spent most of your recent time dodging a homicidal Soul Reaper, you learn how to protect vital points pretty quickly. Speaking of which..." smirked Hiruma, taking a few steps back.

As if on cue, Ichigo came from around the corner where he had disappeared, angrily swinging his sword at Xavil. Xavil leapt back, over Sora, and glared at the interloper. Lavi, Zero,and Riku all raced from Ansem's study at the sounds of fighting as well as area destruction and gawked in the hallway at the sight before them.

Sora still lay on the ground, wheezing heavily as Xavil held Ichigo's arm in a very uncomfortable position,preventing him from swinging his sword. Another hole had been knocked through the wall and Hiruma was in a headlock by Tifa, with Leon fast approaching. At the arrival of the others, Xavil's lips curled in a sneer. " Too many."

With a speed rivaling Ichigo's flash step, Xavil tossed Ichigo onto Lavi and the others and left in a whirl of darkness. "I guess I'll have to thin out the herd another time. Ciao."

Lavi gently pushed Ichigo off of his chest as Zero wriggled out from under the pile to check on Sora. Riku rubbed his head in disbelief at what had happened. Ichigo snapped back upright and muttered apologies to all of them.

Tifa's eyes cleared up as she released Hiruma from the headlock. " Sorry, I don't know what happened..." She apologized. Hiruma waved casually, throwing off her apologies. " Not the first time I've been in a headlock and probably won't be the last." he shrugged.

Riku helped Sora to his feet and turned to Tifa and Leon. "Tell us what happened. Anything you remember can help."

Leon rubbed his head." I can't remember much, but I'll tell you what I know. Let's leave before something else comes though." he then turned to leave for Ansem's study. All of them tagged after him, following his heavy footsteps, theirs just as heavy.

-Ansem's Study-

"...and that's the last thing I remember." concluded Leon. Riku stood in the study with him as all the others sat on the floor or in a chair.

" So you and Yuffie came out to the Postern to investigate a computer problem and that's when Xavil showed up and that's it?" asked Sora from his seat on the floor.

Leon nodded as Hiruma snorted in disgust. "Still doesn't change the fact that we got our asses handed to us by that one-eyed lunatic." Ichigo nodded sadly. He was still kicking himself mentally for letting himself get caught in an arm hold like that.

Tifa held up her hand. " I was waiting at the Bailey for them to come back, but after awhile, I got worried and came after them. I, too, can't remember anything after I reached the Postern. Everything is a dense fog until I woke up again, with your friend in a headlock."

"That doesn't tell us much, I'm afraid. Are you sure that you couldn't remember anything?" urged Lavi.

Both shook their heads sadly and everyone else in the room hung their heads. Zero perked up. "At least those weird marks Hiruma mentioned are gone."

Lavi shrugged. " I'm betting Xavil was using those to control both Leon and Tifa and when he left, so did the marks. The real question is though, where is Yuffie?"

Ichigo yawned. " So now, we have a missing person, a strong Nobody on the loose, and several other issues. Out of the frying pan and into the fire, eh, Hiruma? Hiruma? "

Hiruma sat on the floor adjacent to Zero and was talking very quietly on a cell phone. Realizing that someone was calling him, Hiruma placed his hand over the receiver. "Yes?"

Ichigo cocked his head. " Who are you talking to?"

"Cid and Merlin," answered Hiruma. " They haven't seen Yuffie, she didn't return to the house. They've got a few people looking for her, but for now, since we're here, they asked us to check to see if the computer's alright." he then snapped the phone shut and put it back into his pocket.

Zero looked at Leon. "Computer?" Leon pointed at the hidden room. " It's in there."

Sora leapt to his feet. " Is there a problem with Tron?" Leon sighed. " We really don't know what's going on, we haven't been able to get a decent signal from him for a day now. We tried sending a signal to him, but no response, so we decided to check on him manually. You know the rest from there. The Claymores are just fine in the town, but we became worried when we didn't hear from him."

Sora ran ahead of the group as they made their way to the computer room. Reaching it, Sora began to play around with the keyboard while calling out to the computer. " Hey, Tron, we need to see you! Are you okay in there? Answer me, it's Sora!" No answer from the computer. Leon walked beside him. "Let me try, Sora." He tapped a few keys on the board as well but sighed when he got no response.

--

Hiruma, Lavi,and Ichigo hung back so they could have a private discussion in Ansem's study. Ichigo sighed as he sat cross-legged from Lavi. " When you first arrived at the tower, Lavi, did you come from your world directly?" Lavi shook his head. "No, I remember falling through the darkness for quite awhile."

Hiruma clapped his fist in sudden realization. "That damn one-eyed bastard must have been created during that time period, when you fell through the darkness. But then again, all of us fell through darkness at one point or another, does that mean we have Nobodies too?" Neither Ichigo nor Lavi answered his question, but both had creased their foreheads in thought.

Zero walked into the room and sat next to Lavi. " What did I miss?" Ichigo filled him in on what the conversation was about. " I met a strange person when I got lost on the way here, you know." Zero put in.

All eyes were suddenly on Zero. " Why didn't you tell us that earlier?" snapped Hiruma. Ichigo glared at him. " We were all kind of busy at the moment, or did your blood loss cause amnesia?" Ichigo then ignored a exceptionally rude comment from Hiruma as he turned his attention back to Zero. " What was the person like? "

Zero placed his hand on his chin thoughtfully. "Very strange. He didn't have a clue who he was but he knew who I was. I never got a chance to see him though, his voice was always guiding me." Hiruma's face fell. " So you have no idea?" Zero cringed. " Sorry..."

Lavi placed a hand on Zero's shoulder. " No, it's okay. For now we just have to focus on finding Yuffie." Zero smiled in acknowledgment. " Thanks."

Hiruma rolled his eyes as Sora and Leon came back into the room, both depressed. Turning his head to look at them, he asked, "Any luck?" and dropped his eyes as they dropped theirs.

"We tried every keyboard code known to man and even made up a few, no luck." whined Sora.

" We even tried hitting all of the keys at once." added Leon.

" Well, at least you tried." said Zero, trying to comfort the two.

Lavi glanced around. " Where's Tifa?" " Tifa said she was going back to Merlins' house to check on a few things." answered Ichigo. Lavi snapped his fingers as all of the others sighed. Hiruma placed his hand on his chin, lost in thought. He was so lost in thought that he didn't react to Zeros' call until Ichigo chucked a paperweight at him.

" What in the Hell was that for?!" he snarled at Ichigo, who was picking up another weight for round two. " You looked like you were being controlled. I had to save you." was the sarcastic reply. " I'll show you some saving, asshole." he retorted. Zero stepped in between them. " What were you thinking about, Hiruma?"

Hiruma turned his attention to Zero. " When Tifa came to us begging for help, she remarked about Leon being trapped and the person in black. But she also talked about a giant heartless, so where is it?:"

all of them looked at each other and realized that she did say that. But where was the supposed giant Heartless? Lavi shrugged his shoulders. " Maybe that was a lie that Xavil told to get us to come here. Sounds like something he would probably do."

Ichigo sighed and threw the paperweight at Hiruma, who caught it and tossed it back. The two weren't fighting per se; they were too bored and lost in thought to argue. Zero and Leon spoke quietly until a loud noise came to their attention.

Riku came to them, laughing uncontrollably as Sora came back into the room, pitch black in color. Leon raised an eyebrow. "What, dare I ask, happened?" Sora coughed and held up the keyblade.

"Casting lighting on an machine with a security system is a bad idea..." both eyebrows raised now, Leon turned to Riku for the full explanation. " He cast thunder on the keyboard and the security system activated."

Hiruma choked back a laugh as he walked to the door. " We're not going to find anything hanging around in this dump, let's go back." Zero chuckled as he began to clear the dust off of Sora as all of them filed out of the room and headed back to the Bailey.

--

Merlin sat and listened intently as Sora finished telling him and Cid what had occurred at the Postern. Cid thumbed his nose. " Sounds like you had a helluva time of it, didn't ya?" Kairi sat next to Sora as she listened as well, ears catching every word. " Fact is, we still don't know where Yuffie is" finished Sora, sitting down.

"We could always try ninja wannabes anonymous." (A/N: sorry, yuffie fans... this is just how I see her...don't hurt me!)

" Hiruma!"

" What?!"

Lavi and Riku opened their mouthes to yell at Hiruma's offensive attitude but was drowned out by the screaming as the whole house shook and rose above the ground. Sora blushed slightly when Kairi slid into him and pushed the two onto the floor in a compromising way. Rather than jump on the opportunity, Riku climbed his way to the door and forced it open. Merlin's house was literally atop a Heartless that was mostly still underground as it moved its head about, trying to find its quarry.

Hiruma grabbed onto a part of the doorway next to Riku and looked out as well.

"Hell, we're on its fucking head."

Nobody bothered to scold Hiruma for his language at the moment as Sora leapt out onto the Heartless's nose. " Come on, we have to get rid of it before it gets above ground!" he shouted to them, leaping onto it emerging hand and swinging the Keyblade onto the hand. Riku slid out after him, and joined in returning the hand to the earth it had pulled up.

Even Kairi came out to help, and all of the four remaining boys inside the house felt like total idiots following behind her instead of leading. The Heartless, which was immediately dubbed Earthmover by Zero, began to bring another hand out of the earth. Ichigo and Lavi, both possessing large weapons, succeeded in forcing the other hand to the ground as Hiruma made an attempt to gouge the Earthmover's eyes out.

He failed to succeed and instead hung onto the spikes protruding from the head as the Earthmover's shook violently, trying to rid itself of its plaguing parasites. Zero placed round after round into Earthmover's left shoulder, letting out a small cry of triumph when its arm hung limply at it's side, only to cry out in dismay as a new arm sprouted from the shoulder blade. The new arm pried Hiruma from its spikes and tossed him several feet away from the battle, where he landed on a house.

Sora moved himself in front of Kairi. " Kairi, stay back!" he declared, using the keyblade to deflect an oncoming claw. Kairi shot him a look before answering, " I can take care of myself!" as she swung her Keyblade into another arm. Riku landed next to them, skidding a few feet along the ground before coming to a complete stop. " How many arms does this thing have?!" he wheezed as he charged back into the battle.

Ichigo leapt past another arm and hacked it away, yelping in surprise as five grew in its place. He used the air as a foot hold and rocketed past Lavi who yelled " Will you knock it off with the hand cutting thing?!" as he flew by.

Lavi drew his hammer into the air. " Innocence, Level 2: Stamp! Hammer of Fire!"

He brought the hammer down on earthmover's head. " Hellfire!" A pillar of flames engulfed Earthmover's body as it writhed about, still trying to pull itself up. "Stubborn Heartless!" he growled, bringing his hammer down again and unleashing another burst of flame.

Earthmover lurched forward and crashed to the ground, its now revealed tail laying limply on the ground. Merlin's house slid off its head and crashed to the ground as well, the occupants having long since gotten out. Zero shielded his eyes from the glare of the gem on earthmover's tail, the neon green glow shining like a beacon.

Riku smirked at Sora. " Are you thinking the same thing I am?" he asked. Sora and Kairi nodded eagerly as Lavi slid next to him. " If that's a weak point, I'll take it out in one shot!" he crowed, lifting the hammer.

"Big hammer, Little Hammer, grow, grow, GROW!" at Lavi's call, the hammer, doubled, tripled, in size. " Time to break some jewelry!" he yelled, bringing the hammer down on earthmover's tail. A sizable dent ran across the gemstone, but it didn't shatter. The hammer vibrated back as Lavi retreated from the tail which had begun to thrash. "Guess I didn't swing hard enough. Zero! Ichigo! I need you two to stun it again so I can get it's tail!"

"Hey, what about us?" Sora yelled. Lavi turned to them, " See if you guys can keep its fingers off us!" Sora and Riku nodded and then rushed at the head, which was rising again. Leaping onto it, Both grabbed onto a spike and hung on. Sora slid a few feet and grabbed a spike closer to its eyes and jammed the Keyblade into the eye closest to him.

The effect was instantaneous. Earthmover wrenched its head back and lifted its lower half, which would have been easily compared to a serpent's body, and started to slither forward. Zero emptied round after round into the new emerging target, hoping to pin it in one location.

"Getsuga Tensho!" a black wave of energy tore through a freshly emerging arm, one that had been reaching for Riku, who had followed Sora's example and rendered earthmover blind. The severed arm fell to the ground below, forcing Kairi to move from her location.

Sora and Riku then grabbed onto newly protruding spikes and climbed up, and brought their Keyblades down on earthmover's single spike on its head, bringing it crashing to the ground with a cloud of dust. Lavi leapt onto the tail and faced the gemstone. " Let's try this again."

He raised the large hammer again and swung forward, hammer ricocheting off of the stone again.

"Why you damn piece of..." he growled, lifting the hammer again. This time, when he brought it down, a crimson blur had slammed against the hammer, doubling the force that it carried, which broke the stone which scattered everywhere. Hiruma, in Valor form, gave a brisk wave to Lavi before vaulting onto the back of earthmover, and shooting at all of the spikes that were headed his way.

" Where the hell were you?" asked Ichigo as he joined in, slashing away at the few Hiruma missed.

Hiruma swung his foot into the base of one of the spikes, which disintegrated like wood when destroyed. " I was forced into taking a quick nap, This thing threw me pretty good; I had to get out of the destruction before I could rejoin the fight and that just pissed me off." he replied.

Sora twisted the Keyblade in the air before swinging it down onto earthmover's head. Earthmover let out a horrendous roar before starting to vanish, a giant heart released from it's mouth. Hiruma and Ichigo gently landed on the ground, the crimson fading from Hiruma's clothes as the two watched the Heart float away. Zero panted as he watched from where he stood, protecting Kairi who watched the heart with sadness in her eyes.

"What was that all about?" asked Lavi, downsizing the hammer before putting it away. Sora put the Keyblade as well. " Giant Heartless like this one, are made of many hearts. By defeating it, the hearts are free." Ichigo jerked his thumb in the direction of Merlin's house. Shouldn't we go see if they're all right?"

" No need to worry." quipped Merlin from behind them. In a flash of magic, Merlin had restored the area to how it was before. " I'm so glad that you guys are okay!" smiled Zero. Cid snorted. " Gonna take a lot more than this to kill me, I'll tell you that much." Zero then lowered his eyes. " But we still didn't find Yuffie..."

"Hi guys, how's it going?" called a voice from behind them. All of the group whirled around to see Yuffie standing there, waving energetically. " Where have you been?" was the question all of them had in their thoughts, but Yuffie was one step ahead of them. " I was at the Postern with Leon until all of the Heartless showed up. I lost Leon in the battle, then I was dragged away by a boy who took me to Cloud. I've been with him since then, trying to find you guys." She pointed behind her, where Cloud leaned up against a wall, being antisocial.

" Hi, Cloud!" called Sora eagerly. Cloud looked at them before walking away, Riku shaking his head. " Not real friendly, is he?" Sora sighed. " He's always been like that." Ichigo turned to Yuffie. " A boy dragged you away to safety?" Yuffie put a hand on her hip. " Yeah, unless that girl had a really sore throat. I couldn't tell though, he was wearing a hood just like those Organization guys." after seeing Sora and Riku jump slightly, she added, " But he was kinder than most people I've met."

" Maybe a person who just likes to help?" hummed Zero. A chorus of " Not Likely!" silenced him.

--

"All right, It's done." groaned Cid, lifting a box and setting it aside. " What's done?" asked Zero. Cid clapped his hands together. " A new style of gummi ship. This one is the largest I've made, its designed to fit all of you comfortably and meet at least some of your needs."

"Will we able to sleep in it? Because I'm exhausted." yawned Lavi.

Cid chuckled. " What kind of mechanic do you take me for? Of course it has rooms for you guys to rest in! It's also got a kitchen, restrooms, a training room, a navigational room, and a lounge! Only catch is that it's stationary. Stays in one place. The gummi ship that you used to get here has been programed to take you to the 'Home' ship and serve as your main mode of transport."

Zero looked lost (again) so Hiruma filled him in. " It's like an Inn. We go out to other worlds and handle whatever the issue is and then return to the gummi ship to rest before going to the next world."

Merlin appeared next to Riku, startling all of them. " I know you're all eager to get going, but I have managed to make a connection to the castle. I don't know how long I can keep it open, would you boys mind checking things out there before you go? I'm sure Donald and Goofy miss you terribly, Sora."

Sora dashed past Kairi to Merlin. " Where's the gate? I haven't seen Donald and Goofy in a long time, I'm sure they'll want to meet all of you, come on, let's go!"

" Was there a sentence in there?" muttered Lavi. Ichigo shook his head.

--

and I'll end it for now. Next up, Disney Castle and the Mystery of the Missing Cornerstone!

Omake 1: Meeting Kairi.

Sora gestured to Riku and Kairi. " These are my friends; Riku and Kairi." Riku bowed his head in respect as Kairi waved.

Zero and Ichigo bowed while Hiruma made a acknowledging snort. Lavi glanced at Sora and then Riku. When his eye fell on Kairi, he made the thumbs up sign.

"STRIKE!"

-3 seconds later-

An impulse that had been bred into the bones of any individual with any kind of attraction to another, Sora, Hiruma, Ichigo, and Zero all hit Lavi at the same interval. Hiruma and Ichigo had kicked him while Zero and Sora took ahold of Lavi's arms and dragged him away.

Watching Lavi being dragged out of the door, Hiruma placed his leg back on the ground. " Why do I get the feeling that I'm going to do that a lot?"

Ichigo shrugged. " Guess I'm not the only one with that feeling."

Lavi came back into the room and sat back in a chair, a slight haze hanging over his head. He didn't dare tell the others that Sora had forcibly grabbed his ear and hissed " She's taken, don't even think about it," before letting him go.

Not that the others cared anyway.

END


	4. An odd game of tag

Chapter 4: The Cornerstone Mystery and another Foe?

Disclaimer: I do not own any character in this fanfic except for my OC's

--

Riku waved to them. "You guys have fun. I'll stay here and investigate the Postern where we were attacked and look around." Kairi turned to Sora. "I'll stay with Riku. Is that all right?" Sora disagreed immediately. "We need you Kairi! I- I can't rely on them to cook!" Riku slapped his forehead while Zero and the others immediately took offense. Zero sulked while Ichigo and Hiruma shook their fists. Lavi just shook his head. Kairi looked a little disappointed at Sora's words, but she agreed to go with them.

Ichigo leaned over to Hiruma. "Do you think Kairi was hoping for Sora to say something else?" Hiruma glanced at Kairi before looking at him. "By the looks of it, yes." Both then stared at Kairi who was watching Sora say goodbye to Riku and sighing. She was disappointed. Riku waved goodbye to all of them as he walked away with Leon.

Merlin teleported all of them to the gummi hangar, where only the sounds of the moving gears could be heard. Merlin shook his head apologetically. "I'm sorry boys, this is about as far as I could get. Something's blocking the rest of the way." with a puff of smoke, he left."Leave it to the old coot to desert us halfway." grumbled Hiruma watching the fading smoke. Ichigo quieted him as loud footsteps came their way.

"SORA!" called two enthusiastic voices.

Donald and Goofy landed on Sora, all three rolling about on the floor laughing crazily while Kairi looked on, smiling. Sora finally managed to wiggle himself out from under the two. "I missed you guys a lot!" he laughed. All three began to hug each other again while Hiruma stood in disbelief. "A duck. And a dog. What the hell am I on?" he moaned. Zero sighed as he watched the sight. He pined for his long days of travel with Himeko; He missed it terribly. Lavi too, longed for the chaotic days in the black order. He missed tying ribbons in Kanda's hair and then running through the cafeteria in a panic.

Ichigo took his hand away from his sword , he had reached for it defensively when Donald and Goofy appeared. "Uh, don't mean to interrupt your reunion, but, where are we?" Sora glanced up from the hugging festival. "Oh, yeah!" All three released each other and then answered Ichigo's question in unison.

"Welcome to Disney Castle!"

Donald and Goofy led Sora down the hall while the others hung back. Zero wanted to talk to Sora, but Hiruma and Ichigo blocked him. Zero complained, but Hiruma's comment made sense to him. "Would you want someone interrupting your reunion?"

"Sora, how have ya been?" asked Goofy, walking alongside Sora. Sora shrugged. "I made some new friends. They're a little weird, but I know they all have good hearts. Even if they do fight over everything. Their worlds were taken by Heartless, so Master Yen Sid asked me to help them get home. You don't mind, do you guys? " Donald eyed Sora curiously. " Not at all, Sora! They fight?"

Sora lifted his eyes to the ceiling and sighed. "Actually, they're pretty calm right now. Wait until we run into something. Then you'll see what I mean."

Sora then turned on his heel to face the group in the back. "Guys, this is Donald, and this is Goofy. Donald and Goofy, this is Ichigo, Hiruma, Zero and Lavi. And I'm sure everyone knows Kairi."

Kairi gave a small nod of her head and the group continued walking. She then called out to Donald and Goofy. "What happened to the Cornerstone?"

Donald crossed his arms. "Well, Queen Minnie had gone to the Library to research something while we guarded the Cornerstone. The King as specially told us not to let anyone touch it. Before we even knew it, a person had knocked us both out." Goofy continued where Donald left off. "Queen Minnie heard the commotion and came to check on us when she saw the thief taking the Cornerstone. She tried to stop him, but all she managed to do was hurt his arm. I've still got the burn where he hit me, and that was pretty hard. After that, The Heartless started showin' up again."

Goofy rolled up his sleeve on his right arm and showed them the burn mark. Sora inspected the mark." Have you tried using Cure on it?" Goofy shook his head. " Donald doesn't have to Cure every bruise we get. Just what can keep us goin'."

"That's an electrical burn."

All eyes shot to Ichigo, who had spoken. Ichigo spoke again. "My dad runs a medical clinic where I'm from. We occasionally get people with electrical burns and have to treat them."

Hiruma rolled his eyes. "Probably touched enough sockets to know, your hair definitely shows it."

"What?! Then you must have put your hand in a television!"

"Come again, asshole?!"

Sora shook his head as the two fought in the hallway. "I told you two that they were like this." Donald and Goofy stood in horror of the fight that was happening before them. Zero rushed into the fight as well, screaming. "One world! The truce was for five worlds and you two have already broken it!"

Lavi sighed. "HELLFIRE." the pillar of flames cooled down the fight and the provokers were dealt with. _"Honestly, those two are worse than Allen and Kanda!"_

Kairi tore her eyes away from the issue. "Any-ways, can we talk to the queen? We might be able to help find your missing Cornerstone." She jumped as several Heartless appeared from the ground and walls. Sora took out his keyblade. "Just like old times, Huh?"

Bullets flew past Sora's hair as an orange blur passed by as well. Hiruma ran after the blur, yelling all the while. "Whoever gets the most Heartless wins!" Ichigo sliced open a shadow. "Don't cry when you lose!" he taunted.

Lavi jogged after the two. "I'll keep score."

Sora's jaw dropped as the two, clearly forgetting the reason why they came, cleared the hallway from any Heartless, barely giving any Heartless time to appear. Kairi patted Sora on the shoulder. "They cleared the way, let's go talk to the queen." Donald and Goofy still stood in awe, slightly fearing the power that Sora's new companions were displaying. Zero just walked behind them, thinking about the task of separating the two from each other that was ahead.

Once they reached the Library, Hiruma and Ichigo still clearing the Heartless away, Sora walked inside and saluted Minnie. She ran to greet him and gave a nod of approval. "Who is this?" she asked, looking at Zero. Sora held up his arm. "This is Zero and this is Kairi. Sorry to ask, but what can you tell us about the thief?"

Minnie sighed. "I became worried when I heard a lot of noise coming from where the Cornerstone was, So I went to check on Donald and Goofy. When I got there, they were knocked out and the Cornerstone was gone! I saw the thief leaving and tried to stop him, but he got away. I managed to hurt his arm, but he didn't notice."

Sora put his hand on his chin, lost in thought when Ichigo, looking like he won a national tournament, came bursting into the room followed by Hiruma, looking like he been rolled down a flight of stairs. Lavi, a big grin on his face, came up behind them and stood next to Zero. "What did we miss?" Ichigo asked.

Zero whispered in Lavi's ear. "What was the score?"

Lavi whispered back. "Ichigo: 42, Hiruma: 36."

Zero whistled. "That might explain Hiruma's mood right now."

Lavi then looked at Minnie. "Who's this?" he whispered to Zero.

"The queen." replied Zero.

Lavi hung his head in disappointment.

Hiruma snickered. "Disappointed?"

Sora glared at all of them to be quiet as he introduced the rest of the group to Minnie. Each on them, sans Hiruma, bowed respectfully to her as she walked out of the library. There wasn't another Heartless to be found in the hallway, Hiruma and Ichigo had seen to that, but the group was still on guard. Reaching the giant double doors, Minnie opened them. More Heartless populated the room, all floating about aimlessly before focusing on them. Two blurs rocketed past Sora as Sora sighed. "Round 2 begins now. Try not to wreck the room"

Zero cleared away some of the Heartless as well, with Lavi flattening anything in his path. Donald and Goofy, not wanting to be upstaged by Sora's new friends, plowed into the Heartless with just as much force. Ultimate score; Lavi: 45, Zero: 28, Hiruma: 24, Ichigo: 24, Donald and Goofy: 20.

Lavi, the victor, led the pack all the way to the throne where Minnie opened up the path to where the Cornerstone once resided. Hiruma and Ichigo, both having achieved the same score, grumbled slightly to each other. Once downstairs, the group searched the area for any signs of clues, with Donald, Goofy, and Minnie retelling their tales for the members that hadn't been present the first time. Zero examined the pedestal carefully before moving on and checking the wall for secret passageways.

Sora looked up at the ceiling. "Last time, when the Cornerstone of the past was messed with, there were thorns all over the walls. Why isn't there any this time?" Goofy looked at Minnie, who was moving back and forth nervously. "Why, I can tell ya that, Sora. That's because it was the Past Cornerstone that was stolen. This time, it's the Present Cornerstone!"

Sora, Donald and Goofy stared at each other for a few seconds before shouting in unison, "The Past!" startling Ichigo who was talking to Minnie at the moment. "Come again?" said Hiruma, shaking his head to get the ringing sound out of his ears. Sora ran to the single silver door in the room. "If the thief didn't leave in darkness like most of our usual suspects, there's only one place he could have run to so quickly, and that's the past!" prying on the door, Sora opened it and ran inside, followed by Donald and Goofy. The door remained open as the others ran after him as well.

-- Timeless River --

Sora glanced around as his eyes adjusted to the lack of color. Donald and Goofy snickered at each others appearances before turning to look at the rest of the group. Hiruma brushed the dirt off of him and looked at himself. "Oh, HELL no. I'm outta here. Fuck this world." Zero grabbed onto the belts of Hiruma's pants. "No, Hiruma! We have to find the Cornerstone!"

Ichigo looked like he was about to tear Zero apart. "Look at my hair! Old photograph gray! And my eyes!"

"My red hair...My green eye..." sobbed Lavi in the corner.

Zero looked at Lavi. "I'm sad about my blue hair, but the sooner we find the Cornerstone and return it, the sooner we can return to color!" Lavi perked up a little, but Hiruma and Ichigo's moods were unchanged. Sora did his best to cheer them up, but to no avail. Doing a head count, he looked around.

"Where's Kairi?" All of them looked around. Lavi just crossed his arms. "Maybe she decided to stay with Queen Minnie." Sora turned back to the door. "I'm gonna check. I'll be right back."

After Sora had left through the door, Hiruma and the others turned to Donald and Goofy. "Now that Sora isn't around..." he began, sitting next to them and bored his eyes into Donald and Goofy's skulls. " Why don't you tell us all about your previous adventures, so we know just how deep in trouble we are?"

Donald sighed and told them everything, with Goofy adding in a comment once in a while. He told them about Ansem the Wise, his apprentice Xehanort, Kingdom Hearts, Xemnas and Organization XIII, Namine and Roxas. Just as he was finishing, Sora came back through the door, a look of relief on his face. " She decided to look up some things in the Library."

Ichigo, Hiruma, Lavi, and Zero quietly sat there while Sora talked with Donald and Goofy, each going over Donald's story in full. Each thought about their own homes and hardships, each thought about something precious left behind and the struggle it would take to get it back. Lavi stood up. "We'd better get started. The worlds aren't going to save themselves. We should split up and look for any sign of the Cornerstone or someone who knows anything about the thief."

A unanimous agreement, the hard part came when it was time to decide how to split. Hiruma refused to partner with Ichigo and Zero didn't want to be left alone. Sora decided to go with Goofy and check out the Waterway. Donald and Ichigo decided to check the Wharf for any signs of activity.

Lavi didn't want to be alone either, due to the Xavil incident, so he partnered with Zero, leaving Hiruma alone. Hiruma murmured something about "A bunch of chickens," and went by himself to the Building Site. After watching him leave, Zero and Lavi went to Lilliput and began to investigate.

-- The Wharf --

Ichigo groaned as Donald raced about in circles, ranting furiously at the lack of clues and an abundance of Heartless. Heartless were appearing everywhere, with the exception of Cornerstone Hill. Putting his foot through a Shadow, he lifted Zangetsu over his shoulder. "Let's go, we're not going to find anything here. We looked all over."

Donald held up his staff. "Thunder!" a single lightning blast took care of a small group of Shadows before he walked behind Ichigo to meet with Sora and Goofy at the Waterway.

-- The Pier --

Having failed to find anything at the Waterway, Sora and Goofy went to the Pier. Meeting up with Pete of the Past, who once again thought they were up to no good, they were forced to convince him that they were not being no-good scrubs. Once the dust settled, Sora knelt beside Pete and waited for him to pull his face out of the ground. "Hey, Pete. Have you seen anyone suspicious around here?"

Pete glared at him. "Nope. Haven't seen anyone but you, yet. Every time I see you and your pals, it always means trouble for me and my boat!" Goofy brought up his hands. "We're lookin for a thief! Since he stole somethin' from us, your boat might be next, Pete." The magical sentence. Pete leapt to his feet and swung his fist, full circle. "What?! Let some little sneak try and take my boat, I'll make him pay!"

Sora grinned and put his hands behind his head. "So, Pete. Does that mean you'll help us?" Pete swung his arms and ran towards the Waterway where they came from. Sora watched him run off. "I'll take that as a yes." He and Goofy ran after Pete.

At the Waterway, they had to stop Ichigo from introducing Zangetsu to Pete as the group met with each other and talked. Neither group had found anything. Sora and Donald talked while Ichigo apologized to Pete. Goofy hung his head. "I hope that Zero and the other two are havin' better luck."

"Is having good luck better than a clue?" sang a voice.

Sora whirled, knocking Donald over. A hooded figure sat in one of the trees. Only the lower half of his face was visible and he was smiling, with just a hint of childish playfulness. "Don't leave me hanging on the branch, don't you want a clue about your Cornerstone?" At the mention of the Cornerstone, Sora and the others gave the hooded figure their full attention.

The hooded figure tilted backwards on the branch and clung to another one that was lower, the branch snapping under his weight. He crashed to the ground and snapped back upright. Brushing his clothes off, face red at the sskeptical looks from Sora and those present. "_Idiot"_ all of them thought at the same time. " It's simple really, I'm in the mood for tag, so we'll play tag. If you catch me in two hours, I'll give you a nice hint about your Cornerstone." The figure sang, trying to cover up the fact that he had just fallen several feet out of a tree and was presumably nuts.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes. "I've played this game before, didn't like it. What happens if we don't catch you in two hours?"

The figure sighed. "Don't you trust me in the least? Long story short, Xavil's coming here in two hours, need I say more? Better make that 1:59 hours now, though." Flinching at the memory of their meeting, Sora rubbed his throat and gulped. "We don't have a choice. When do we begin?"

"Now."

The figure darted off faster than Ichigo could flash step towards Cornerstone Hill. Ichigo and Sora gave chase, with Pete, Donald, and Goofy bringing up the rear. At Cornerstone Hill, they saw the figure duck into one of the floating doors marked "The Scene of the Fire" before leaping in after him. Several Heartless blocked them from getting any closer to the figure as he ducked into another door. Sora, desperate to catch up, bore down on the heartless in the room at full force. Donald and Goofy fought with a Hot Rod that only had running them over on its mind, while Pete proved to be useless.

A lingering trail of darkness led to Lilliput where Sora stepped on Zero, who was trying to exit the area just as Sora was entering. Lavi was sitting on the ground, shocked. "Who was that just now?" he asked pointing at a trail leading to the Building Site.

"The Thief! Hurry, we have to catch him!" shouted Sora.

Lavi and Zero joined the chase, running after Sora and the others to the Building Site. At the Building Site, they stood on shaky ground as they bounced about from the impacts of Hammerframes on the unstable scaffolding. Hiruma, deep into battle, failed to notice them arrive until Zero called out to him. Looking down from the support beams where he was standing, Hiruma stood, watching the others bounce about below.

"Hiruma! Did anyone dressed in black come through here?" called Zero.

Hiruma pushed one of the Hammerframes off the beam. "In case you have forgotten, this world is either white, black, or some damn shade of gray. No!" Ichigo slid past Sora and Goofy, who were fighting with a large body. "Well, he can't have gone too far, we were right on his ass." Hiruma stared at them blankly until Ichigo explained the issue.

When the scaffolding had become stable again, Hiruma came down from the support beam to talk. "So, You were chasing the supposed thief of the Cornerstone and you lost his trail around here?" he asked. Zero nodded. "We lost his trail here, but I'm sure that we'll find him."

Ichigo looked at him. "Since when did you get so positive?"

Pete, slow to the issue, returned to the docks to check on his boat as Lavi put his hand on his chin. "We tried splitting up and we had no luck, plus the guy is faster than we are."

Sora tilted his head. "He can't keep running that fast. He's gotta slow down somewhere. We just need to be there." Donald and Goofy exchanged looks. "But Sora, where could that place be?" asked Goofy.

Everyone fell silent until Zero spoke up. "Where would you go to hide?" Silence reigned again until Lavi spoke. "When I was at the Order, I would always hide in anything that provided cover to get away from Kanda." Ichigo looked up. "Does anyone think Pete's boat might have something to do with this?"

Sora chuckled. "I think Hiruma figured it out; he just left."

All of them took their own routes, eventually reaching the docks where they found Pete lying face down on the ground again. A large bump on his head meant he wasn't going anywhere for awhile, and his boat was missing from the docks. Donald stamped his foot on the ground angrily. "We missed him!" A blur leapt out of a nearby tree and tried to get past Sora, who swung his keyblade into it. The hooded figure slid backwards into the tree hitting it very hard. "Ouch," he whined. "Why does it always hurt whenever I play tag?" he looked up just in time to see everyone present land on top of him.

Sora and the others tied him up with cables left at the edge of the docks and removed his hood. A black-haired Hiruma glared at them with tears in his eyes from the bruises they left on his head. All of them stared at him stupidly until Zero blurted out "Hiruma, did you dye your hair?"

"I'm not Hiruma!" snapped the teen. "The name is ...!" he stopped and looked heavenward. "Um, what was my name?"

Ichigo shook his head. "This guy's too stupid to be Hiruma. Let's just get the Cornerstone back from him, find our moronic member and get the hell outta this old comedy flick."

Hiruma, behind Ichigo, smacked him across the head. "Who's stupid, you damn idiot?" Ichigo turned to face him. "Where have you been?" Hiruma pointed in the direction of the river. "Taking the scenic route. A mouse, at least I think it was, practically pushed me onto the boat and made me take it down the river. Had to knock out what I think was the captain to get the boat." Ichigo glanced at the fallen Pete. "That would explain a few things."

"Oh, Goddamn it! What the hell was my name?!" shouted the teen angrily. Hiruma and Ichigo jumped and turned back to the group. Hiruma scratched his head. "First it was Lavi and now my Look-alike is here." The teen glowered at them. "I won't give you your Cornerstone back until you release me." Hiruma glowered right back. "Obviously, you don't know how I do things. You give us the Cornerstone before we release you. That's just how the world works around here."

The teen turned his head. "I put it in the Cornerstone Hall of the Present. It's hidden really well. Now let me go!" Hiruma glared at him. "NO. You tell me exactly where it is or else you aren't going anywhere!" The teen glared at him and snorted. " I should have known. Xezro was right about you guys. You really are-" His sentence stopped as he collapsed on the ground eyes hazed over. Zero began to panic.

"What did you do, Hiruma?" Hiruma stared back at him. " I just stared!"

A large blast of darkness blew all of them apart, sending Zero crashing into Sora, Lavi several feet away and Hiruma and Ichigo into the river. Donald and Goofy struggled to free themselves from under each other as another figure stooped to pick up the teen. "Still malfunctioning, I see. You should have known better than to try and move at high speeds before your final maintenance." He murmured opening a portal and walking back through it. " Keyblade bearer… Your friends will be your undoing. Cast them away before you do something stupid, like dying." He called as he left.

Sora rubbed his head and looked at the place where the two figures had vanished. "Damn it!" cursed Ichigo as he swam to the shore line. "That's twice that they've gotten away from us!" Lavi coughed from all of the dust in the air. "Can't help it, they keep getting the drop on us. Not like we can predict when they're coming." Hiruma shook his hair and started to squeeze the water out of his scarf. "Can we talk about this later?! Let's just go find the goddamn Cornerstone so I can get some goddamn sleep!" Donald and Goofy nodded as well and started to try and revive the fallen Pete as the others headed for the door.

--Location Unknown--

As the portal of darkness opened in the dimly lit room, Xezro stepped out and tossed the look-alike of Hiruma to Xavil. "He still needs fixing. He made contact with Sora and his friends and was beginning to malfunction again." Xavil looked up from his book. "I thought you were in charge of him. Whatever, I'll have out residential scientist take a look at him." He turned to a bunch of chairs with individuals seated in them, all of them talking. "I trust you have no issue with that, Vexen?"

Vexen bowed his head. "Of course, Sir. I'll take a look immediately." As Vexen left the room, his eyes narrowed into a glare. " Impudent brat." He whispered. A figure at the table snickered. "How kind of you, Xavil, to revive us all with your power of darkness so that we may take revenge on Sora."

Xavil grinned. "I only did what I have to for a fellow Nobody, Xemnas. But take note, you are not to take revenge on Sora for him ruining your plans the first time around. You are to **kill **him. Every last one of them. Then the worlds are all yours. Not that I really care.

------------------

Omake 2: The Ninja and the Martial Artist.(Radiant Garden)

As Cid gave Sora a run down on their new home, Lavi sauntered over to where Hiruma and Ichigo were lounging about in comfortable chairs on the gummi ship. "Where's the person we rescued?" he asked, running a hand through his red hair.

Ichigo pointed back at Merlin's house and Lavi walked in through the door. Almost immediately, Ichigo stood up and went after Lavi, but Hiruma motioned for him to sit back down. "Those women can handle themselves," commented Hiruma, taking a sip of juice that he got from the Gummi ship's cooler. "They are more than capable of keeping Lavi in place."

On cue, "STRIKE!" could be heard from the house followed by sounds of fighting. Zero then came out of the house, fuming while dragging Lavi by the collar, Lavi bearing the marks of punches and several Ninja stars stuck in various locations.

"Told you."

"...Yeah."

"any more juice? If so, gimme one."

"Get it yourself, damn carrot top."

"What did I say about names?"

"Dunno, what did you say? whatever, catch. "

"Thanks. wow, those girls really did a number on him."

"...Yeah."

END

End Chapter 4

In the Next chapter, The Cornerstone is found and A new world is found!

Next chapter: The Found Cornerstone and the World ruled by Equivalent Exchange!

My sister recovered!


End file.
